Need Advice on Whole Leaf Cigarette Tobacco

[Raimondas]

Hi everyone,


I’ve been trying to learn about whole leaf tobacco for almost a year now, and I’m starting to feel like I’m missing something fundamental.


I’ve experimented with different Virginia and Burley leaves, read a lot of forum posts and scientific articles, and spent a lot of time trying to understand the chemistry and processing of tobacco. However, I still can’t seem to get consistent results.


One thing I’m wondering is whether my biggest problem is simply the quality of the leaf I’m buying. I’m based in Europe, and I’ve had a hard time finding suppliers that consistently offer high-quality whole leaf tobacco. Has anyone else experienced this, or is the leaf quality generally not the limiting factor?


I’m not looking for anyone’s proprietary formulas or trade secrets. I’m just trying to understand where I should focus my effort. In your experience, what usually makes the biggest difference: the quality of the leaf, curing, aging, storage, or something else?


If you’ve been through a similar learning process, I’d really appreciate hearing what helped you improve your understanding. Any recommendations for good educational resources, books, or suppliers of high-quality whole leaf tobacco in Europe (for research and learning purposes) would also be greatly appreciated.

I’d be happy to pay for your time if you’d be willing to share your step-by-step process.

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to FTT. What’s wrong exactly with your cigarette tobacco? Too strong? Too light? Tasteless? Not burning? Can you be more specific about the problems you stepped in?

pier

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. You may wish to scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, linked in the menu bar.

Bob

 

[Raimondas]

Welcome to FTT. What’s wrong exactly with your cigarette tobacco? Too strong? Too light? Tasteless? Not burning? Can you be more specific about the problems you stepped in?

pier

I have nothink to hide
Current formula (100 ml):
* Water – up to 100 ml
* Glycerin – 10 ml
* Propylene Glycol – 5 ml
* Glucose – 5 g
* Licorice Syrup – 8 ml
* Vanillin – 0.08–0.10 g
* Ethyl Maltol – 0.03–0.05 g
* Ethanol (95%) – 2–3 ml
* Citric Acid – 0.05 g


The main issue is that the tobacco just doesn’t have a rich, natural flavor or aroma. It burns reasonably well, but the taste feels flat and lacks the depth I would expect from a good commercial blend. The aroma is also much weaker and different than what I was hoping for.

I’ve spent almost a year experimenting with different whole leaf tobaccos, blends, and processing methods, but I still feel like I’m missing something fundamental. At this point I’m not sure if the problem is the quality of the leaf I’m buying, my processing, aging, or simply a lack of experience.

I’m not looking for anyone’s proprietary formulas or trade secrets. I’m just trying to understand what experienced people think is usually the biggest factor when someone can’t achieve a rich flavor and aroma from whole leaf tobacco. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Raimondas]

I have nothink to hide
Current formula (100 ml):
* Water – up to 100 ml
* Glycerin – 10 ml
* Propylene Glycol – 5 ml
* Glucose – 5 g
* Licorice Syrup – 8 ml
* Vanillin – 0.08–0.10 g
* Ethyl Maltol – 0.03–0.05 g
* Ethanol (95%) – 2–3 ml
* Citric Acid – 0.05 g


The main issue is that the tobacco just doesn’t have a rich, natural flavor or aroma. It burns reasonably well, but the taste feels flat and lacks the depth I would expect from a good commercial blend. The aroma is also much weaker and different than what I was hoping for.

I’ve spent almost a year experimenting with different whole leaf tobaccos, blends, and processing methods, but I still feel like I’m missing something fundamental. At this point I’m not sure if the problem is the quality of the leaf I’m buying, my processing, aging, or simply a lack of experience.

I’m not looking for anyone’s proprietary formulas or trade secrets. I’m just trying to understand what experienced people think is usually the biggest factor when someone can’t achieve a rich flavor and aroma from whole leaf tobacco. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The leaf blend I’m using is approximately 70% Virginia Orange and 30% Tennessee Burley.
From - https://tabakilo.com/product/burley-kentucky-1-kg/

 

[Juxtaposer-]

I hear that kilning makes a big difference.

 

[Raimondas]

I hear that kilning makes a big difference.

Thanks for the suggestion. But kilning takes a lot of time, maybe there any chemical additives that can speed up the process

 

[johnny108]

If the tobacco by itself is lacking in flavor, it is the quality of the leaf you are working with.

 

[deluxestogie]

I would suggest that you begin without the chemical soup. Make a sample blend of just the tobacco, and try it.

If you are unhappy with the result, then try another sample blend of:

• Virginia lightly misted with citric acid, then dried
• burley lightly toasted

Report your results to us.

Bob

 

[johnny108]

Deluxestogie has a good point- the processes the leaf is put through can have a dramatic impact on the flavor of the leaf, without resorting to additives.

 

[StoneCarver]

Also, its not necessarily the quality of the leaf but more so the type of leaf. For example, there's a world of difference from a dark air cured leaf from a bright flue cured.
Have you considered pressing the leaf? No chemicals needed, just water, weight and time (kinda sorta). https://forum.wholeleaftobacco.com/threads/containerless-pressing-of-pipe-tobacco.7749/

 

[UmbriaFarmer]

Hi everyone,


I’ve been trying to learn about whole leaf tobacco for almost a year now, and I’m starting to feel like I’m missing something fundamental.


I’ve experimented with different Virginia and Burley leaves, read a lot of forum posts and scientific articles, and spent a lot of time trying to understand the chemistry and processing of tobacco. However, I still can’t seem to get consistent results.


One thing I’m wondering is whether my biggest problem is simply the quality of the leaf I’m buying. I’m based in Europe, and I’ve had a hard time finding suppliers that consistently offer high-quality whole leaf tobacco. Has anyone else experienced this, or is the leaf quality generally not the limiting factor?


I’m not looking for anyone’s proprietary formulas or trade secrets. I’m just trying to understand where I should focus my effort. In your experience, what usually makes the biggest difference: the quality of the leaf, curing, aging, storage, or something else?


If you’ve been through a similar learning process, I’d really appreciate hearing what helped you improve your understanding. Any recommendations for good educational resources, books, or suppliers of high-quality whole leaf tobacco in Europe (for research and learning purposes) would also be greatly appreciated.

I’d be happy to pay for your time if you’d be willing to share your step-by-step process.

A couple of points, I too am restricted to buying this leaf from German suppliers (US and EU trade war now makes importing good leaf from the US virtually impossible) but I suggest you look at eurotabak.de as they have a considerably wider selection of leaf available. Secondly, I felt exactly the same about how the leaf tastes (with the exception of their "very smoked fire cured kentucky ") but then I discovered a game changer. All the leaf they sell is unfermented. Now I ferment it and then it becomes far more interesting, more aromatic, much tastier.